We moored in Almerimar some years ago; it was then a partly developed site with some very nice but unsold properties surrounding the berths.

At one stage during dinner, the crew had to close all the ports and doors and spray the entire saloon with fly-killer: the mosquitoes were enormous! I don't think anyone was bitten, but their number and size were threat enough. Perhaps it was the swampy area near the marina, perhaps just the time of year.

Looked safe enough on film.

Rob C

Rob,Thanks for putting your experience in context. My mosquitoes/sand fight was on the Italian west coast (Forte Dei Marmi) just after a huge thunderstorm. I guess the little bugs (tiger mosquitos are tiny) got excited by the weather and found a perfect victim in my person. I counted more that 30 mosquito bites on my arms/legs/face and that was with long sleeves/pants. On top of that, photos were just OK, nothing more.

The advantage of solution b. is that it saves your life, sweetens your personl hygiene and stops the curtains from reeking.

When my wife was still undergoing treatment for C, we bumped into a local trader at the hospital who was always to be seen with a cigar between his lips. He was awaiting an operation for mouth and lip cancer. So far, despite beng a shadow of the stocky guy he once was, he's still around. Just. I stopped smoking because of the death from throat cancer of my wife's uncle. I used to get sore throats, stop the habit and they would go away. I'd start again and the throat pains would rerturn. It hardly needed spelling out.

It just ain't worth it.

Forgive the intrusion, but I can't let it pass without doing my best...

Maybe not surprisingly, I have a Pentax 645D in my bag with four lenses--35mm, 55mm, 120mm, and 300mm. I also have an RX-1. Only one lens for that, 35mm. I am not thinking of getting another. Then things like a right-angle finder, cable releases, a bunch of ND filters, batteries, gloves, etc. A carbon fiber tripod with a P0 head--not in the bag. Also a portable tracking mount for star photography, but I recently changed that and have not been out with it, but it does fit in a small belt bag.

I carry my tripod strapped to the bag, because I want to have my hands free. The RRS tripod I carry would be much higher than my backpack with the head mounted, so I attach the head with a QR to the tripod and carry the head in the backpack. That also protects the head from the elements.

I also carry some other stuff, like a variable ND, ND8 and polarizers and a Color Checker Passport and electric cable release.

Maybe not surprisingly, I have a Pentax 645D in my bag with four lenses--35mm, 55mm, 120mm, and 300mm. I also have an RX-1. Only one lens for that, 35mm. I am not thinking of getting another. Then things like a right-angle finder, cable releases, a bunch of ND filters, batteries, gloves, etc. A carbon fiber tripod with a P0 head--not in the bag. Also a portable tracking mount for star photography, but I recently changed that and have not been out with it, but it does fit in a small belt bag.

I carry my tripod strapped to the bag, because I want to have my hands free.

I just slip a tripod leg through the strap on the backpack where it meets the bottom of the bag. I can then get the tripod without having to take the bag off. I simply walk around with my hands free. Being low, it does not snag on anything.